Belgium at the UEFA European Championship

The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA (the Union of European Football Associations). Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current name in 1968. Starting with the 1996 tournament, specific championships are often referred to in the form "Euro 2008" or whichever year is appropriate. Prior to entering the tournament all teams other than the host nations (which qualify automatically) compete in a qualifying process.

Belgium have participated in five UEFA European Football Championships finals, those held in 1972, 1980, 1984, 2000 and 2016. As of 1 July 2016, they have played 17 matches: 7 wins, 2 draws and 8 losses.

Euro 1972

Belgium hosted the 1972 European Championship twice, as they were chosen amongst the four semi-finalists to host the event, and ended third by beating Hungary.

14 June 1972 (Semi-Finals)
20:00
Belgium  1 – 2  West Germany
Polleunis  83' Report Müller  24', 71'
Bosuilstadion, Antwerp
Attendance: 55,669
Referee: William J. Mullan (Scotland)

17 June 1972 (Third-Place Playoff)
20:00
Hungary  1 – 2  Belgium
Kű  53' (pen.) Report Lambert  24'
Van Himst  28'
Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liege
Attendance: 6,184
Referee: Johan Einar Boström (Sweden)

Euro 1980

Under the guidance of manager Guy Thys, Belgium achieved their best European result at the 1980 edition in Italy. After finishing first in the group phase, before football nations Italy, England and Spain, Belgium stood in the final against West Germany. After the German opener from Horst Hrubesch and the penalty equalizer from René Vandereycken, the match seemed to go in extra time. Two minutes before the end of the regular playing time, Hrubesch's second goal ended the Belgian dream of winning a first major (non-Olympic) tournament.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Belgium 312032+14
 Italy 312010+14
 England 31113303
 Spain 301224−21

12 June 1980 (Group Phase)
17:45
Belgium  1 – 1  England
Ceulemans  29' Report Wilkins  26'
Stadio Comunale, Turin
Attendance: 15,186
Referee: Heinz Aldinger (West Germany)

15 June 1980 (Group Phase)
17:45
Belgium  2 – 1  Spain
Gerets  17'
Cools  65'		 Report Quini  36'
San Siro, Milan
Attendance: 11,430
Referee: Charles Corver (Netherlands)

18 June 1980 (Group Phase)
20:30
Italy  0 – 0  Belgium
Report
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Attendance: 42,318
Referee: António Garrido (Portugal)

22 June 1980 (Final)
20:30 CET
West Germany  2–1  Belgium
Hrubesch  10', 88' (Report) Vandereycken  75' (pen.)
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Attendance: 47,864
Referee: Nicolae Rainea (Romania)

Euro 1984

At UEFA Euro 1984[1] the road to the knockout stage seemed open after taking a 0–2 lead in their last group match against Denmark, but the Red Devils could not prevent Danish Dynamite to turn the tide in their favour.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 France 330092+76
 Denmark 320183+54
 Belgium 310248−42
 Yugoslavia 3003210−80

13 June 1984 (First Round)
20:30
Belgium  2 – 0  Yugoslavia
Vandenbergh  28'
Grün  45'		 (Report)
Stade Félix Bollaert, Lens
Attendance: 41,525
Referee: Erik Fredriksson (Sweden)

16 June 1984 (First Round)
17:15
France  5 – 0  Belgium
Platini  4', 74' (pen.), 89'
Giresse  33'
Fernández  43'		 (Report)
Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes
Attendance: 51,359
Referee: Robert Valentine (Scotland)

19 June 1984 (First Round)
20:30
Denmark  3 – 2  Belgium
Arnesen  41' (pen.)
Brylle  60'
Elkjær  84'		 (Report) Ceulemans  26'
Vercauteren  39'
La Meinau, Strasbourg
Attendance: 36,911
Referee: Adolf Prokop (East Germany)

Euro 2000

The Belgian team was one of the major disappointments of the 2000 edition with a first-round exit. This early exit was fairly unexpected since during the eight preparational friendlies for Euro 2000 under Robert Waseige Belgium played well,[2] winning three times convincingly and losing only once (2–1 against England). At Euro 2000, Belgium first won against Sweden with 2–1 via goals from Bart Goor in the 43rd minute and Émile Mpenza in the 46th minute against Sweden's one by Johan Mjallby in the 53rd minute after a terrible error of goalkeeper Filip De Wilde. In the second match, Belgium lost 2–0 against the eventual tournament's runners-up Italy by a header from Francesco Totti in the 5th minute and Stefano Fiore's Goal of the Tournament (according to Britain's Match of the Day) in the 66th minute.[3] In the crucial match where Belgium needed one more point to move ahead to the quarter-finals, they lost 2–0 against Turkey (two goals from Hakan Şükür in the 45th after another error of goalkeeper Filip De Wilde, and 70th minute). In the 83rd minute of that last group match, De Wilde even ended his Euro 2000, being sent off for attacking Arif Erdem outside the penalty area.[4]

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Italy 330062+49
 Turkey 311132+14
 Belgium 310225–33
 Sweden 301224–21

10 June 2000 (First Round)
20:45
Belgium  2–1  Sweden
Goor  43'
É. Mpenza  46'		 Report Mjällby  53'
King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels
Attendance: 46,700
Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)

14 June 2000 (First Round)
20:45
Italy  2–0  Belgium
Totti  6'
Fiore  66'		 Report

19 June 2000 (First Round)
20:45
Turkey  2–0  Belgium
Hakan Ş.  45', 70' Report

Euro 2016

Just like in Belgium's previous Euro tournament in 2000, Belgium lost 2–0 to Italy in the group phase.[5] In spite of winning with broad margins against the Republic of Ireland (3–0)[6] and Hungary (0–4) at Euro 2016,[7][8] Belgium's second very talented generation disappointed with a quarter-final exit. As during the tournament's qualifiers, Wales got the better of Belgium, with a 3–1 win.[9]

Group stage

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Italy 3 2 0 1 3 1 +2 6 Advance to knockout phase
2  Belgium 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6
3  Republic of Ireland 3 1 1 1 2 4 −2 4
4  Sweden 3 0 1 2 1 3 −2 1
Source: UEFA
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers

13 June 2016 (2016-06-13)
21:00
Belgium  0–2  Italy
Report

18 June 2016 (2016-06-18)
15:00
Belgium  3–0  Republic of Ireland
 Report

22 June 2016 (2016-06-22)
21:00
Sweden  0–1  Belgium
Report Nainggolan  84'
Stade de Nice, Nice
Attendance: 34,011[12]
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

Knockout phase

Round of 16

26 June 2016 (2016-06-26)
21:00
Hungary  0–4  Belgium
Report
Quarter-finals

1 July 2016 (2016-07-01)
21:00
Wales  3–1  Belgium
 Report Nainggolan  13'

Overview

Tournaments

     Champions       Runners-up       Third place       Fourth place

Line-ups for the UEFA Euro 1980 Final in which Belgium (red) faced the European vice-champion West Germany (white). The respective coaches were Guy Thys and Jupp Derwall.
Belgium's UEFA European Championship record Qualification record
Host nation(s)
and year		 Round Pos Pld W D L GF GA Squad Outcome Pld W D L GF GA
France 1960 Did not enter Did not enter
Spain 1964 Did not qualify Preliminary loss 2 0 0 2 2 4
Italy 1968 2nd of 4 6 3 1 2 14 9
Belgium 1972 Third place 3rd of 4 2 1 0 1 3 3 Squad Quarter-finals win 8 5 2 1 13 4
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1976 Did not qualify 1st of 4, playoff loss 8 3 2 3 7 10
Italy 1980 Runners-up 2nd of 8 4 1 2 1 4 4 Squad 1st of 5 8 4 4 0 12 5
France 1984 Group stage 6th of 8 3 1 0 2 4 8 Squad 1st of 4 6 4 1 1 12 8
West Germany 1988 Did not qualify 3rd of 5 8 3 3 2 16 8
Sweden 1992 3rd of 4 6 2 1 3 7 6
England 1996 3rd of 6 10 4 3 3 17 13
Belgium Netherlands 2000 Group stage 12th of 16 3 1 0 2 2 5 Squad Qualified as hosts
Portugal 2004 Did not qualify 3rd of 5 8 5 1 2 11 9
Austria Switzerland 2008 5th of 8 14 5 3 6 14 16
Poland Ukraine 2012 3rd of 6 10 4 3 3 21 15
France 2016 Quarter-finals 7th of 24 5 3 0 2 9 5 Squad 1st of 6 10 7 2 1 24 5
Europe 2020 To be determined
Total Best: runners-up 5/15 17 7 2 8 22 25 — Total 104 49 26 29 170 112
     Champions       Runners-up       Third place/semi-finalists  

Matches

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Nielsen suffered an injury shortly before half-time and was replaced by fourth official Benkö.

References

  1. ↑ Gianni Brera (June 17, 1984). "Festival di Platini sul tetto d' Europa". la Repubblica (in Italian). p. 26.
  2. ↑ "Experimental Italy sinks Belgium clearly wins: 3–1". repubblica.it (in Italian). November 13, 1999.
  3. ↑ "Fiore strike scoops top spot". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 1 July 2000. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
  4. ↑ Gianni Piva (June 20, 2000). "Hakan Sukur, 2 gol la Turchia in delirio". la Repubblica (in Italian). p. 58.
  5. ↑ Stefano Cantalupi (June 13, 2016). "Euro 2016, Belgium-Italy 0-2: goals from Giaccherini and Pellé, Conte at top of his group". gazzetta.it (in Italian).
  6. ↑ Angelo Carotenuto (June 19, 2016). "Nel segno di Lukaku il Belgio ritrova il suo passo da grande". la Repubblica (in Italian). p. 60.
  7. ↑ "Belgium ease to 3–0 victory vs. Rep. Ireland". ESPN FC. 18 Jun 2016. Archived from the original on 14 June 2016. Retrieved 2 Jul 2016.
  8. ↑ "Hazard shines as Belgium thrash Hungary". ESPN FC. 26 Jun 2016. Archived from the original on 21 July 2016. Retrieved 2 Jul 2016.
  9. ↑ "Wales stun Belgium to reach Euro semifinal". ESPN FC. 1 Jul 2016. Archived from the original on 21 July 2016. Retrieved 2 Jul 2016.
  10. ↑ "Full Time Summary – Belgium v Italy" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "Full Time Summary – Belgium v Republic of Ireland" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 18 June 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  12. ↑ "Full Time Summary – Sweden v Belgium" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  13. ↑ "Full Time Summary – Hungary v Belgium" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 26 June 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  14. ↑ "Full Time Summary – Wales v Belgium" (PDF). UEFA.org. Union of European Football Associations. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
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